while i love a good reason to eat the not-so-good things for you, i generally prefer to keep things clean. i can confidently say, however, that if certain foods didn't affect me in such negative ways, i would totally find it a lot harder from staying away from them. but in the spirit of health/well being/taking care, i decided to change the pace a bit for a ordinarily over-indulgent valentine's holiday. last year i started the tradition with this dish, and so this year i'm continuing the notion of a vibrant and wholesome valentine's day with a souped-up hot chocolate!

i've been adding additional nutrients into my diet: flax oil, chia seeds, chlorella, spirulina, hemp seeds, basically all those fundamental super foods. i try sneaking a higher ratio of leafy greens and chlorella into daily smoothies, and green juices. more flax oil and hemp seeds into salad dressings, and sometimes sauces. so a while back when laura mentioned that adding coconut oil to warm vegan beverages delivers some major froth (!), i started adding a good dose of flax oil to coffee blends, tea lattes, and hot chocolates. but to make this hot chocolate more lush, and deserving of a valentine's goody, i added just enough ground chia seeds to give it a dense, velvety texture without that thick gloppy consistency that adding too many chia seeds could definitely offer. adding almond butter and almond extract just give it another flavor element that i really enjoy, and makes mathematical sense in my mind - almonds + chocolate = bliss.

wishing you all love in whatever form and scope that comes in, xo <3

almond chia seed hot chocolate | vegan

i love using almond butter here, but you can certainly substitute it for any nut or seed butter - hazelnut butter, peanut butter, or tahini (sesame butter). there are so many different flavor profiles to go with. the portion below serves two, but if you're wanting a single serve just halve the ingredient list below.

| serves 2 |

4 teaspoons chia seeds

3 tablespoons raw cacao powder

1 cup water

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons almond butter

2 teaspoons flax oil

pinch of salt

method

using a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) set on a fine powder, grind the chia seeds and set aside.

in small pot whisk together the cacao powder, water, and milk; once it's mixed, whisk in the maple syrup and almond extract. turn heat to medium and continue whisking until the mixture is steaming and hot, then add the powdered chia seeds. whisk occasionally until the mixture has thickened up a bit, about 5 minutes.

carefully add the hot chocolate mixture to a blender along with the almond butter, and flax oil, blend on high for 30-45 seconds, until frothy.

divide the almond hot chocolate between 2 large mugs and dust with extra cacao powder.